Day: January 20, 2012

by Amin Iskander
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 20, 2012

20 JAN — Pada ketika Umno masih belum selesai dengan isu Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, memperbesarkan isu pemecatan Datuk Dr Hasan Ali dan memanipulasi isu pengambilan portfolio agama Islam oleh MB Selangor, dalam diam DAP memperkukuhkan partinya.

Hari ini Umno dikejutkan lagi dengan berita penyertaan Hata Wahari, bekas wartawan Utusan Malaysia dan mantan Presiden NUJ kedalam parti tersebut.

Sebelum ini dua orang blogger, Aspan Alias dan Datuk Mohd Arif Sabri — juga veteran Umno —menyertai parti yang digambarkan oleh Utusan Malaysia sebagai “chauvinis Cina”.

Ironinya, Hata Wahari memilih untuk menyertai DAP walaupun majikan lamanya, Utusan Malaysia paling kuat menghentam parti yang menguasai Pulau Pinang itu.

Apakah yang bakal dikatakan oleh lidah pengarang Utusan Malaysia untuk menjawab penyertaan Hata Wahari ke dalam DAP?

Apatah lagi pada ketika Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng yang baru sahaja memenangi saman fitnah terhadap Utusan Malaysia. Utusan Malaysia di-ibarat “sudahlah jatuh ditimpa tangga pula”.

Dikala ramai yang menyangka Hata Wahari akan menyertai PKR, mantan Presiden NUJ itu mengejutkan ramai pihak. Hata mungkin nampak perubahan besar yang telah berlaku dalam “mindset” DAP. Continue reading “Dalam diam DAP melakukan transformasi”

By inviting Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muyhiddin Yassin to officiate the closing ceremony, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has destroyed whatever credibility he might have salvaged by hosting the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates.

As a result, it is legitimately asked whether the so-called International Conference on Global Movement on Moderates is actually a camouflage by extremists to try to gloss over their “extremism”, whether directly and through aid, abet and condonation of voices of hate, unreason and all forms of extremism, whether ethnic or religious in recent times.

Najib had already raised grave questions about the bona fides in hosting the International Conference on Global Movement on Moderates when he refused to clean his own slate of “extremism” not only of the past, but even those committed in his 33 months as Prime Minister – as in refusing to retract his extremist speech at the 2010 UMNO General Assembly threatening “crushed bodies, lives lost” to defend UMNO from losing power in the 13th General Election or in allowing or condoning Utusan Malaysia, the official newspaper of UMNO, becoming the chief protagonist of the voices of extremism, whether unreason, hate, enmity, lies and incitement causing the worst polarisation of Malaysia in both racial and religious terms in the nation’s history.
Continue reading “Let Muhyiddin reveal his true colours, whether he is an extremist, a moderate or an extremist camouflaging as a moderate?”

By Dr. Ong Kian Ming BSc (LSE), MPhil (Cantab), PhD (Duke)
Teh Chi-Chang, CFA, BSc (Warwick), MBA (Cantab)
Refsa | 19 January 2012

The Economic Transformation Programme is ambitious indeed. The ETP promises to double gross national income (GNI) per capita to RM48,000 by 2020 from RM23,700 in 2009. An average 6% per year real income growth over 10 years and 12.8% per year private investment growth over 5 years is required to achieve this. Ultimately, RM1.4 trillion of investments in 131 Entry Point Projects (EPPs) within 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) will create 3.3 million new jobs.

Predictably, there are critics. Any plan as bold as this is bound to attract critics. But the attacks so far have mainly been against specific projects, such as the MRT and 1 Malaysia email; carping about the slick façade and expensive costs at PEMANDU – the Performance Management and Delivery Unit, prime minister’s department – the government agency that created and is now steering the ETP; or questioning the viability of its lofty targets.

We will evaluate PEMANDU on its DEEDS. In this series, we shall evaluate PEMANDU and the ETP on its own terms by looking at the goals and plans outlined in the ETP Roadmap document. So, for example, rather than questioning its ambitious targets, we shall analyse how well it is measuring up to those aspirations. Doing so facilitates constructive debate as it uses the same framework which PEMANDU has chosen to work within.
Continue reading “A Critique of the ETP (Part 1) – Let’s evaluate PEMANDU on its DEEDS”

By Kee Thuan Chye

UMNO is beyond redemption. At its general assembly in December, the message it sent out was suspicion of others and hatred for them, and a desperate desire to win the next general election.

Its president, Najib Razak, once again proved what many of us have long suspected – that he is a dissembler. He exposed the ultimate lie behind his 1Malaysia slogan by saying things that would divide the races rather than bring them together. He set the trend for delegates at the assembly to harp on the threats to Umno from other races. It was disgraceful coming from the prime minister of the country. It was supremely irresponsible.

Worse, two days after the assembly ended, he appealed to the right-wing NGO Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Pekida) for support. This has to be the final nail in the 1Malaysia coffin.

To cap it all, Umno showed its partiality to cronyism by defending Wanita leader Shahrizat Abdul Jalil over the scandal surrounding her family’s business, the National Feedlot Corporation. One or two colleagues called for her to step down, but the overwhelming majority stood by her and castigated the Opposition for exposing the scandal.

This begs the question: Can Umno change? As the major party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, can it truly stand up for other races as well, and work for their well-being? Can it stay clear of corrupt practices? Can it stop dishing out favours and projects to party leaders and their cronies? Can it save Malaysia from financial meltdown or will it rather bleed our coffers dry? Continue reading “Can Umno Change or Cows Fly?”